Tongue Tied

Chapter 3

Alec's arm around my waist was a sweet thing to wake up to, though we rarely allowed ourselves to fall asleep and spend the night cuddling this way. Alec always said he didn't want to chance either of us developing the "wrong kind of feelings." Our relationship was strictly no-strings-attached and we'd agreed we wanted to keep it that way.

But still, I had to admit that his soft breathing behind my ear and his strong arm unknowingly tugging me against his torso were both comforting, as well as difficult to put an end to. I wouldn't tell him that though.

His hair was swept across his forehead and part of his cheek as he slept. It made him look so innocent. If I hadn't known, I never would've guessed he'd spent half the night showing off just how guilty he could be.

Alec was a chameleon. He fit his personality and attitude to the situation. He could appear completely professional and not in the least bit mischievous at a public event, and not an hour later he'd do a total one-eighty with his slacks down. Not that I wasn't the exact same way. I just wasn't as bold about my actions as he was. I didn't try to slide my hand up someone's thigh in the middle of a business dinner. Alec enjoyed being so brazen though. It was part of what made him so... fascinating. He got away with things most people wouldn't and in turn, received a lot of envy from others, as well as intrigue.

I carefully inched my way out of his grasp and out of the bed, tiptoeing across the bedroom to where my clothes were scattered. I cringed at the thought of having to do the walk of shame with my hair looking like I'd brushed it with eggbeaters and my clothing so revealing, when it was entirely possible that one or both of Alec's parents could show up at any time. They had a tendency to pop in unannounced, according to him. Apparently it was quite often, judging by how frequently he complained.

I padded to the bathroom and threw my clothes back on, making sure to button my shirt all the way up. I felt way too exposed. I ran my fingers through my hair in attempts to untangle and tame it. That didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

I cautiously sneaked out of Alec's apartment, taking what felt like forever to shut the door so the noise wouldn't wake him. I received another glare from the woman down the hall upon my exit.

I usually worked on any unfinished projects I may have on Saturdays. If I didn't have any work to do, I'd spend the day relaxing or at the gym. As much as I'd rather be lazy, I knew I had to finish the presentation for Rutherford Laurence, or Sean Ashworth would probably personally fire me.

I took a much needed shower once I got home and then got back to work on my job duties I'd been lacking for a couple days. Rutherford's new campaign was about staying healthy and finding new ways to increase your good health and so on. I'd already done most of the work on the slideshow I should've had ready to go Friday morning and I was glad I didn't have much left to do on it.

As Sean had explained in the meeting yesterday, the reason for Rutherford Laurence deciding to make a bigger deal than usual of staying healthy was because they'd had an abnormal number of people holding life insurance policies with them die lately and it had been determined that, while it wasn't the cause of most of their deaths, many of the individuals weren't as healthy as they could've been, and Sean believed that was a huge contributing factor to several of their deaths.

I understood where Sean was going with this from a business standpoint. He wanted to make a bigger profit. But it sounded rather crude leaving his mouth. He felt the need to explain to me what I already knew, that when people buy life insurance policies, the insurance company is taking a risk, essentially betting that the individuals won't die. They don't want to have to issue that one hundred fifty-thousand dollars or more. Sean thought that if he could convince the majority of the policyholders to lead healthier lives, there was a much lower chance that they would die, meaning Rutherford Laurence got to hang on to their money for a longer period of time.